 I'm Marsha Joyner and this is Community Matters. We at Think Tech Hawaii have embarked on a campaign to introduce our listening audience, our viewing audience, to candidates who are running for office and are from all parts of Hawaii from the tip of the big island all the way up to Nihihau and places in between. And today we have a young man who is running for the office of Hawaiian Affairs. And he was born in Nanakuli, right in the middle of all of that. He now lives in Papakaleo. So welcome, welcome, Makana, Paris. Makana. Yes, auntie. Makana. Yes, auntie. Makana, Paris. Makana. Makana. Mahalo. So you tell us about Makana. Tell us who you are and all about this wonderful journey you've been on from Nanakuli to embarking on OHA. Okay, thank you. Well, I'm Makana, Paris, as auntie said, and I'm seeking to serve as one of the trustees for office of Hawaiian Affairs at large. I was born and raised in Nanakuli and I reside in Papakaleo and I currently farm on Hawaii Island. We farm maile, maile lays, yeah. And I was educated at Nanakuli Elementary School, but more importantly at the feet of my elders, our kupuna, like yourself. Because wisdom comes from those that live life and an experience comes from either learning yourself or learning from the persons that already went through it. So after going to Nanakuli Elementary, I was privileged of going to Kamehameha schools, Kapalama campus. I have to say that now because there's three campuses for Kamehameha. And graduated in 1998 and it was an amazing time for me because the princess's estate actually allowed me the opportunity to live there. When I was in ninth grade, I was with my family and we were going through trying times including drug abuse, mental illness and incarceration issues and eventually found myself houseless. When the community at Kamehameha found out that that was the case, I was offered a position at boarding at the school. And then I was able to finish my high school degree and went on to get degrees from MIT in environmental science and engineering. And then after that got a degree in theology and philosophy from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara in the Graduate Theological Union. And then did some work in between including farming and then finally got a Juris Doctorate from Hawaii's own William S. Richardson School of Law. Yeah, wow, that's quite a journey. Well, so, now, a Jesuit school, well, one of my sons graduated from Santa Clara so I won't. Oh, go down to him. Yes. From Damien to Santa Clara. Anyway, so that was quite a journey real fast. Yes, it was. So what are you doing now? Currently, I am the research analyst for the Hawaii Iron Workers Stabilization Fund and that's my day job. Iron Workers Stabilization Fund. Yes, big mouthful. That's a big mouthful. Yes. What does that mean? So under the Taff Hartley legislation, I work for both labor and management. So I don't work just for the Iron Workers Union 625. I also work with the management companies. So we have about 60 signatory companies that work with our group. And our whole purpose is to work with everyone that has interest in steel erection and rebar. So pretty much major construction, concrete buildings. And even like transportation projects like the rail, airports and harbors. So we're involved to make sure that everyone gets a fair share, that the worker is treated fairly, that the management and the business companies survive and get a fair profit, that the developers actually do well but do well by our communities as well because when it comes down to it, our philosophy is Hawaii first, our neighbors first. So we take care of our laborers, our management and our neighbors here in Hawaii. That's a big job. Tell me about it. So you're not part of the union. You're not part of management. No. I'm in between. So I go to board meetings and I have to make sure that management and labor is happy. And our board has four members. So that means that they literally all have to be happy. Just four members. They just have four members. Two for labor, two for management. Well that's better than 50 or so. It's easier to come to some kind of an agreement with just a few rather than the table full of people. I agree. So that structure I think was chosen purposely so that we would come to consensus and everyone would have to agree before I get my marching orders to go out and do something. Well now, after you finished Santa Clara, then did you go directly to law school or what did you do in between? So I had a period of time in which I worked. So I worked after MIT. I did a lot of community work. Now when did you go to MIT before Santa Clara? Before Santa Clara. Before Santa Clara. So in 1998 I went to MIT and then 2004 I graduated. I took a break in the middle because as my doctors call it, technically I was allergic to Boston. Well I can understand that. The cold weather. I got a fellowship. Lack of sunshine. I got a fellowship to WGBH. I do know the cold. I want to go home. Yes, I understand being allergic to it. So I took a year and a half off to come back home and recover and during that time I served with Hawaii Upward Bound at Leeward Community College and I worked with high school students from Farrington, Kahuku, Waianae, and Nanakuli and I went in and helped them with STEMs, primarily science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. So that's what I did during that year off and then I went back, finished my degree and then at MIT in environmental science and engineering. The funny part is I started my degree off in computer science and engineering and then I was cooped up inside so much and I was like I can't handle this. So when I went back I finished my degree in environmental science and engineering so I got to go around and play in the rivers and the bogs and on the ocean and get on the boats. 180. Yes. So then from MIT to Santa Clara? With STEM in between, I did community work and I worked at Shyamalan University at the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. So I served as a campus minister and as a community service and social justice director for Shyamalan University for a period of time. And that's where I did programs that helped introduce our visitors and our guests, including college students to the social ills that is Hawaii. So everybody comes here. What do you mean the social ills? Well, when you think about Hawaii, everyone that comes away, they come here because it's paradise. They come here to vacation. They come here because it's the place that they want to be where it's happy all the time. And those of us that live here understand that that is a part of who we are, but that is not the entire part. There is a shadow side. Like where I come from on the west side of Oahu, we have the concentrations of social ills. We have the electromagnetic towers that do a little naval base and we have the PVT construction and debris landfill. We have the Waimanala Gulch. We also have the waste sewage processing plants that and he calls largest oil electricity producer all in the same area around community of native Hawaiians, primarily, and immigrants. So that's a part of Hawaii's that most people don't know or don't care to know. And the funny part, when you look at the blue ribbon and for the Honolulu Commission that they were looking to see where we're going to site our next landfill, in all of the reports come out, the communities that did the engagement, the technical consultants, they all said not to put it on the west side because they already had their fair share. There's beyond capacity. But every single time that came up, the other communities would shut it down. And guess what? Even though we did years of work, we still actually have the west side on the docket for expanding our landfill or siding another one. Yes. You remember Frenchie de Soto? Oh, do I? Okay. Okay. When her son was in the city council and there was all of the discussion about the Waimanalo landfill, right? And then one day, oh, I never will forget this, when he discovered it wasn't Waimanalo, it was in his front yard. Oh, you could have. Oh, that was such a precious moment. I will never forget. He just went, why, you know, why us? Why does it always have to be us? And no matter how much he complained, it's there. And then they said that we're going to close it. And then they said that we're going to do this. And it's still operating. True. So while I brought up the social ills that we're talking about, the program wasn't just there to see how it's all negative. We also spent time with the people that actually were doing good work to address it, like the Franciscan sisters out in Ka'au with the houseless community. Right. And with the community of Bailac or Hale-Lokahi on Hawaii Island that reaches out to the people in Fern Forest, which actually does a lot of work with our veterans that actually have, that live up there squatting. Where is that? Fern Forest. Fern Forest is up in, up in Hilo side on Hawaii Island closer to like the volcano. So halfway between Volcano Village and halfway between Hilo, you'll find Fern Forest off on the tracks. So I took students and community members into these other communities and showed them the good work of communities that actually helped each other out. Even down in our own Chinatown here and the River of Life Mission when they went and did work to feed our houseless brothers and sisters. That is quite a journey. I love it. I love it. Now, you mentioned farming on the big island. How is your farm doing with this aroma, this lovely, lovely acid aroma? How are you farming? With Tutu Peles Aloha that she is sharing. Well, when the eruption started happening one of the first things we did was to make sure that all of the kupuna in the surrounding areas would actually disconnect their downspouts. Most of the people were on catchment including our farm. So we went around and made sure that everyone's catchment systems were disconnected because the aroma isn't just the smell but it gets up into the air, into the water precipitate down this acid rain. Yeah, and I've seen how it just burns the tops of the trees. So what about your crops? Right now, we're doing pretty well because we have a large storage tank and we're able to actually spray them down with the clean water that we have. But like I said, we had to go and make sure we disconnected from the system and we sent around our community members and rallied our own farmers to actually go and make sure that our kupuna was taken care of too. Because a lot of people up in Volcano are old-timers. They're 50, 60 plus. And many of them go up there for the nice coolness and the quiet, which I appreciate and like myself. Yes. I really find this fascinating as long as we've been doing this that our last guest yesterday was Representative Lynn Decoy who has ranch and farm on Molokai. Yeah. And tomorrow we have Senator Lorraine Inouye who has farming on the Big Island. Yes. So we've been all this time and now we have farmers. Yeah, farmers. I think that's wonderful. I really think that's wonderful. So we need to take a break and when we come back, we'll talk more about you and the community. When it comes to managing your pain, you have a choice. Don't mask your pain with opioids. Choose to treat it with the help of a physical therapist. Physical therapists treat pain through movement and exercise. No warning labels required and you get to actively participate in your care. Choose to improve your health without the risks of opioids. Choose physical therapy. I'm Marcia Joyner and we at Think Tech Hawaii are doing a series of Think Tech shows with candidates who are running for office and the election is pretty soon, the 11th of August. And we are talking to people from South Point all the way up to the very tip, the very tip of Niihau and everything in between. Today we are talking with Makana, Makana who was born in Nanakuli. So that's right back there in the middle there. Makana has served as a farmer, a fisherman, a teacher, a campus minister, a laboratory specialist, vice chair of AHA 2016 and currently as president of the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. This is wonderful. Tell us about Makana, there you are. Oh, that's a wonderful picture of me standing in the background with the lovely native indigenous endemic, not really. But with a notable Kiavi tree that is on most corner or west sides of islands. So that is in the hometown of Nanakuli on the flats up there by tracks. Yeah. And well, we have some more pictures and you're going to tell us what about them? Who is this? Oh, those are community members from the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club. As you said, the current president. And that was at our recent retreat out in Punaluu. We're currently doing our strategic planning process and we're about to formalize it for the next five years in order to actually roll it out. We spent the last two years actually working with each other, working with our community members and our elders and our young people in order to determine what will be our Kuliana Tuolama, what is our responsibility to take care of in the next five years. And for us, it's a special five years because it's our 55th anniversary to our 60th and it's also the centennial observation year of the founding of the Hawaiian Civic Club movement by his royal highness, Keli Imaqai Nana, Prince John Kuhio Kalaniana Ole. So what do you, what does the Civic Club do? What is your purpose? Other than being Hawaiian and maintaining the culture. But really, what does, you talk about a plan, a five year plan, what would your plan be? So that's questions that we took up for the last two years. So in short, our vision for the club is to see a flourishing Hawaiian community. That is what we want to see. And our mission is to educate civic servant leaders grounded in Hawaiian culture and values. Well, in the Hawaiian, in the parade, the Hawaiian Civic Club, every Kuhio day. Oh, there you are. Who is that with you? There I am. And next to me is immediate past president, Peewee Ryan. Retired from service at Kamehameha Schools Financial Department. Uncle Bruce Wong in the front driving. And he is retired from Kamehameha Schools Boarding Department. And also with his royal highness, Dede Kwananakua, which is a member of our club, his grandmother actually was one of the founders of the club. Yeah. Great. I'm actually wearing Uncle Davis hat because I was there for the first time on this parade. And he told me, boy, it's like, yes, I'll go. It's like, you need a hat. You need a hat. I was like, why? It's just a two mile stretch. Boy, did I need a hat. She knew. I drove in the parade one year and I'm driving. Short. And the front of the car was loaded with flowers. Oh my goodness. It wasn't a flower left in the world. It was all of them. And I'm trying to, and they said, now all you have to do is stay on the line down the middle of the street. Sure. So I'm trying to look out and peep around. So in the news, all you can see is his hand. But it's wonderful. It is wonderful. So there you are. There I am, hanging out at one of my favorite spots in Nanakuli, just chilling with my sunglasses. And I was sporting Ari Saltzware. Formerly Andy Saltz, but not Ari Saltz. She's one of the persons that is a designer from the west side of Hawaii. Very talented. Yeah. And as you can see, I'm sporting one of hers today too. That is nice. Yes. One of the reasons why the material is breathable. She knows what to work with. Yes. Yes, that is great. That's a good idea. That's beautiful. Now where is that one? That one was taken right in front of St. Rita's Catholic Parish in Nanakuli. And it was the community of faith that I grew up in, in Nanakuli, because it's on Homestead. It's one of the communities of faith I grew up in and helped me through a lot of the trying times of my life, especially when I was going through the time of houselessness. And our family was dealing with our incarceration, mental illness and drug abuse issues. And well, you've survived very well. Oh, I thank you. You're doing very good. So as a part of the community, here and on the Big Island, you go back and forth or do you live? Now you said you lived in Papakaleo. Tell our audience about Papakaleo, because that's a very special place. Papakaleo is one of the oldest homesteads. And right now, it's one of the most coveted homesteads because it's like an eight-minute drive from downtown Honolulu, right behind Punchbowl Cemetery. And it's a beautiful place because the community there in Old Papakaleo, they all know each other. We help each other, and most of the old-timers helped each other to build their houses. And so most of the people living in the houses in Papakaleo actually built them, which is very different than the modern homesteads where you get developers to actually come in and you have to pay a large mortgage. Back then, the communities got together and then they worked together. They got some capital, but mostly it was labor from the community members that put up most of the houses. How many people... Now, this is Papakaleo's In the Mountains. Yes. On the Ridge Life. It is. It's a fantastic place. And how many people live there in that community? Well, it kind of depends how you count. It kind of depends on which workers you're looking at. I'm being serious because of the fact that we just got the mail from the U.S. Census, right? And people under-report how many people live in the community because of the fact that some fear that if they report how much is actually living in the household, that people would have to move because we have particular ordinances and stuff against that kind of thing. But you have generations. Well, homelines have generations in the house. We have generations tell you in my household. But I will say that there's about a thousand of us up there. Okay. But anyway. So, now, you are... But you live there. You work in Honolulu. Yes. And you farm on the Big Island. I work in Honolulu for my consulting firm, which is in Chinatown. And then my day job with the iron workers is in Waipio Central Oahu. And then I farm on Hawaii Island. I get up to the farm about once a month. What is the crop that you have? Maile. Oh, wonderful. So, we grow the vine. And the vine that most people know for their special events and celebrations. Yes. And has a cultural significance to us. And my partners and I got involved with this because about a decade ago, we recognized that most of the old-growth mailes were starting to be harvested. And maile can live for thousands of years. Really? So, they've probably seen the arrival of humans in Hawaii. No. Having said that... Now, how does it grow? Because when I see it, it's already strung. Yes. So, is it a tree? Is it a bush? It's a crawling vine. A vine. Yeah. So, when you see the old-growths, you can see them. They look like waves in the forest. And many of the young people in the audience are probably like, what's that? Yes. Because they've not seen them. You have to go to the Kohiwis. You have to go to like the top of Mount Ka'ala. You have to go to very barren areas that the people haven't been to in a while to actually see the remaining old-growths. Because Hawaii has had over-harvesting of the maile in which everyone uses for our cultural celebrations. Yeah, because we do have a picture of you all draped in your lay when you graduated law school. And there you are. There you are. And the funny part about that is that those lays actually come from my farm because I have to give them to my colleagues next to me. Now, you are running for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. So I want you to tell us why you were running for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Well, first of all, tell us what is the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and why you want to run for it and what do you think... how do you think you can contribute? And you look right over here and tell us why we need to vote for you. What is OAH and why you need to vote? We need to vote for you. Okay. Well, mahalo. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is a public trust. The only of this kind in the entire United States of America created in 1978 to hold the assets of Native Hawaiians for their betterment. Their primary mission is to improve the conditions of Native Hawaiians and also all of Hawaii. Now, I am seeking to serve because I was a beneficiary of trust, the trust of Brittany Spohy Bishop, the trust of Luna Leto, the trust of Her Majesty the Queen, and of course, my hopes in Papukolea was because of that trust. I've been educated as we know and now is my time to come alongside and to give back. Most of the trustees are our elders. There are over 70, many of them. And I want to be around in the world where they can lend us their wisdom and experience and knowledge while we work with them for the next generation that will come after us. And I will honor the fiduciary's duties, which is needed. The duties of care, loyalty, prudence, and disclosure to help rebuild trust in the office because the community at large has not heard or in what they've heard from OHA has led them to think that it might not be relevant anymore or necessary or needed. But I'm here to say that it is and it's a time for a new direction that we can help with. And I would like to say their motto which is that together we can grow a flourishing Hawaii for all and especially caring for our native Hawaiian brothers and sisters. Well, thank you so much. I so appreciate you taking the time to be with us and good luck with your campaign. And for everybody, remember it is August 11. You can already vote early and but do vote. We need every vote counts. That's right. Everyone votes for OHA. And everyone votes for OHA. Macana Paris, remember, OHA. Trust me at large. Thank you so much. This has been a real pleasure. And we'll see you next time.